All trueish

It’s about time

dnorton — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 14:45:28 +0000

I noticed that as soon as I put a link to my task manager app – taskhack.com, I started getting visits from people all over the world. And since these people aren’t all in the Eastern timezone, I realized that I needed to fix due dates and reminders. Now, all of my Chinese friends can use this site with abandon!

Olberman again: the defeat of habeas corpus

dnorton — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:24:10 +0000

I can’t help it this time. Keith has become one of the most outsponken public voices for our civil liberties. He’s passionate and logical but doesn’t spout any political party rhetoric. Just watch the video

Writely – Google’s Answer to MS Word

dnorton — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:37:38 +0000

Eat your heart out, Microsoft!

I’m actually using Google’s Writely to write this blog post, and it’s pretty impressive. I used it to put together some notes on the Council of Nicaea for my grandfather after we discussed it over the weekend. Plus, just to get my wife’s feedback, I was able to add her as collaborator in two clicks. It’s not that easy in Word, is it?

To be honest, I don’t use Microsoft Word that often. I would rather use a text editor like vim or even notepad, but I don’t have to produce a lot of business oriented documents. I do keep up information in a Wiki at work, but that’s a whole different beast.

Writely’s the dolphin to Microsoft’s tuna!

Olberman blasts Bush

dnorton — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:26:14 +0000

I have never blogged about my political views here. I generally limit my posts to entertainment, but I feel betrayed by George Bush’s use of 9/11 to spin his Middle East agenda – just like Keith Olberman! Thank you, Keith, for speaking out.

No, this is not me on guitar!

dnorton — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 22:49:48 +0000

I don’t know how I missed this one before. Unreal!

Mario Cart DS Friend Code

dnorton — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:30:23 +0000

My code is 468227 136891. What is yours?

Nintendo DS: A Pretrospective

dnorton — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 04:13:16 +0000

I made up that word. It’s not an old gaming system, so how could there be a retrospective. I’m just assuming that as time wears on and new gaming systems come and go, people will have fond memories of the Nintendo DS. I know that I will.

I bought a PSP last year because I was looking forward to being able to play great games on the subway or while my wife was watching “Project Runway” or when I had to wait in line for the post office. I had seen the Nintendo DS, but there was no reason for me to buy it. I haven’t owned a Nintendo handheld since the original Gameboy back in 7th grade, and I really wasn’t inclined to ever play a Pokemon game… because in my mind that’s what Nintendo had started specializing in… nevermind the addiction I had to “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” on the N64 in college.

Then, Nintendo did something that opened my eyes. They released an update to the DS called the DS Lite which is ipodesque and beautiful, and they released “New Super Mario Brothers” which plays like the original + SMB3 for the NES with a bit of Super Mario World for the SNES (I assume… though I never owned an SNES) but with a 2k+ look. Suddenly, I had to own it! Had to! And so after working my charm with my wife, I bought one… and then went on to spend every non-work and non-wife hour playing it. I beat New Super Mario Brothers in about a week and then bought Tetris DS, Brain Age, and most recently Mario Cart DS. All of them have absolutely glowing reviews from all the critics and fanboys… just ask metacritic.com.

Now, the PSP is relegated to DVD rips for airplane trips and World Series of Poker (don’t knock it.) And Nintendo has once again ruined my productive free time. I need to read more books.

Mr. Roger’s vs. the US Senate

dnorton — Tue, 30 May 2006 14:11:55 +0000

This is one of the best videos I've seen in a long time. This is Fred Rogers testimony before Congress trying to save the funding for PBS.

Won't You Be My Neighbor (Mr. Rogers vs. the US Senate) on Transbuddha

The Ultimate 80′s – Super Mario on Ice (with Jason Bateman and Alyssa Milano)

dnorton — Tue, 23 May 2006 20:39:55 +0000

and Mr. Belvedere as King Koopa! What??? Words simply escape me!

Make your next prank call with Skype

dnorton — Fri, 19 May 2006 19:15:40 +0000

Skype is a free VOIP service that was acquired by Ebay last year. It has a worldwide user base of about 35 million users. I've played with it off and on for a year, but I never really got that interested in it. It really just seemed to be another Yahoo Messenger, MSN Message, AOL Instant Messenger clone. It was impressive that they had developed such a large world wide following, and they had premium services that you couldn't find anywhere else like the ability to call real phone numbers for a really low rate and a voicemail service. But those cost money, and I really don't have a need for them. I don't call overseas, and I have free long distance with my cellphone.

But then something magical happened. Skype said "we'll let you call US and Canadian numbers for free." Really – here's the announcement. Naturally, I had to try this out, and it works. I started by calling my cellphone, home phone, and work phone. Everything works as expected – except the sound quality from the Mac wasn't as good as from the PC laptop. I even used it for an hour long conference call yesterday. It sounded great, and I just used my computer speakers to listen in… no wasted phone battery, no warm ear.
So, check it out. Call Moe's Tavern and ask for "Amanda… Amanda Hugginkis" It doesn't show a caller id, so you're in the clear.